MATCH REPORT
Follow UsIn his 300th T20 match as captain, and potentially his last ever, MS Dhoni pulled off a captaincy masterclass in the final 10 overs of the game as Chennai Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs to lift the IPL title for the fourth time in their history. KKR had a night to forget with the ball, and they imploded with the bat in the second half as their 100% record in finals came to an end.
The match was set-up for the Super Kings by their batters, who posted a daunting 192/3 on the board, and the bowlers recovered after a slow start as the Dhoni-led side ended the 2018-21 cycle just the way they started: as champions.
Narine, Chakravarthy pull things back after CSK’s flying start
As has been the case since making his way back into the side, Shakib Al Hasan took the new ball for the Knight Riders and started well, conceding just 6 off his first over. A three-run second over from Shivam Mavi kept the pressure on CSK, and KKR, it seemed, had the early edge.
However, a missed stumping chance in the third over woke CSK up, post which their openers took charge. The last four overs of the powerplay saw Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad score 41 runs, during which the latter also became the youngest orange-cap holder in the history of the IPL. At 50/0 after 6 overs, the Super Kings looked like they were ready to run over KKR.
The four overs of madness prompted Eoin Morgan to introduce Sunil Narine, and the move helped the Knight Riders wrestle back momentum. Narine conceded just six off his first over, and his confident start also rubbed off on Chakravarthy, who bowled a five-run second over. The Trinidadian accounted for the huge scalp of Gaikwad in the ninth over, and his introduction helped the Knight Riders pull things back.
Between overs 6-9, 15 was all CSK managed, while also losing the wicket of Gaikwad. The see-saw first half saw KKR finish on top.
Stunning onslaught propels CSK to 192
It all started with Robin Uthappa. Having been strangled by the KKR spinners after the powerplay, CSK could so easily have been contained in the middle-overs. Yet, Uthappa single-handedly ensured that wouldn’t be the case. The veteran, who starred in the Qualifier against DC, dispatched Shakib for a maximum on his fourth ball, and that would prove to be the turning point of the innings.
Uthappa did not look back from there, and neither did CSK. The 35-year-old kept the foot on the accelerator and went for broke for the rest of the innings before perishing for a 15-ball 31, post which Moeen Ali took over the mantle. The southpaw picked up from right where Uthappa left, and punished everything that was in the slot. Du Plessis, meanwhile, silently accelerated too, and for KKR there was no respite. CSK struck 127 off the last 11 overs, with du Plessis top-scoring with 86.
But while the CSK batters rose up to the occasion, the KKR bowlers did not. Lockie Ferguson bowled his worst ever IPL spell (0/56), while Chakravarthy was also taken to the cleaners (0/38). Shakib (0/33) also finished with an economy over 11, and Narine (2/26) turned out to be the only bowler who troubled the Super Kings batters.
For the first time in the UAE leg of the season, the Knight Riders were let down by their bowling.
Venkatesh Iyer, Gill lay the perfect platform for KKR
KKR had two huge slices of luck inside the first ten overs. In just the second over, the dangerous Venkatesh Iyer was put down by Dhoni, who dropped an absolute dolly, while in the tenth over, Shubman Gill got a reprieve thanks to spider-cam.
But make no mistake, these two youngsters were sensational barring those two blips.
Iyer was the first one who got a reprieve, and the eccentric southpaw made CSK pay big time. He picked up from where he left in the Qualifier against Delhi, and absolutely flayed the bowlers. CSK did not execute their plans well, but Iyer bludgeoned anything and everything that was in his arc. He struck 5 fours and 3 sixes in no time, and brought up his fifty, his fourth of the season, off just 31 balls.
Gill played a typical Gill knock, taking the odd risk while rotating strike, but he too rubbed salt on CSK’s wounds post the spider-cam controversy, striking consecutive boundaries.
With Rahul Tripathi injured, KKR needed their openers to step up, and they did - big time. 88/0 was what they were at the halfway mark, perfectly set-up to pull off a famous chase.
Shardul’s golden arm turns the game on its head as CSK lift their fourth IPL title
All throughout the UAE leg, Shardul Thakur had been providing his skipper with wickets every time he was introduced into the attack, and come the final, when CSK desperately needed to strike, the man with the golden arm struck not once, but twice to turn the game on its head. In the 11th over, Shardul got rid of the well-set Venkatesh Iyer by inciting a false stroke, after which he struck again just two balls later to send Nitish Rana, KKR’s middle-overs trump card, packing.
Three more balls later, Hazlewood got the better of Sunil Narine, after which the Knight Riders imploded. Shubman Gill, Dinesh Karthik and Shakib Al Hasan all perished within the span of 12 balls, and from 91/0, KKR were reduced to 120/6.
73 was what the Knight Riders needed off the final five, and despite the presence of Eoin Morgan, the number turned out to be a mountain too big to climb, with an injured Tripathi being the only other person who could hold a bat.
CSK maintained their discipline and KKR eventually fell short by 27 runs as the Super Kings lifted their fourth IPL title.
